This competing renewal for the Vanderbilt Nephrology Training program will continue to be directed by Dr. Raymond Harris, who has been Ann and Roscoe R. Robinson Chair of Medicine, and Director of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension since July, 2000. Under Dr. Harris's leadership, the program has recruited new research faculty into the Division of Nephrology to serve as preceptors along with the cadre of existing Nephrology research faculty. In addition, given the collegial and collaborative atmosphere present at Vanderbilt, we have also recruited outstanding faculty preceptors from other departments who can provide relevant research experience. The goal has been to develop a multidisciplinary program that offers a wide range of choices in both basic and clinical research to provide the trainee the opportunity to gain expertise studying important issues in kidney function and disease. Our training program is structured to provide physician/scientist (M.D. or M.D./Ph.D.) and selected basic scientist (Ph.D) trainees with a focused and productive research experience that will serve as the foundation for an independent investigative career directed toward understanding and treatment of renal disease. The program offers exciting opportunities for laboratory investigation of matrix biology, the pathobiology of progressive renal injury, eicosanoid biology, renal physiology, hypertension, vascular biology, renal development and analysis of genetic diseases and provides a comprehensive and cohesive research environment. Clinical research opportunities in nutrition, hypertension, end stage renal disease, progression of renal disease and transplantation are coupled with training in directed master's programs in either clinical investigation or clinical epidemiology and outcomes research. An innovative aspect of this program is institution of formal Career Development Committees to monitor and guide the research training effort of individual trainees through objective stages of career development. Research opportunities for training in kidney disease have greatly expanded at Vanderbilt both within and outside of the Nephrology Division since the previous submission of this training program. In the present application, we are therefore requesting support for five postdoctoral trainees per year. The training program in renal biology and disease at Vanderbilt offers unique research training opportunities in a highly focused supervisory framework to develop future contributors of important discoveries in kidney related research